Ontario County Board of Supervisors adopts 2014 county budget that includes D.A.R.E. funding

Friday

Nov 15, 2013 at 12:01 AMNov 15, 2013 at 10:13 AM

By Erinn Cain ecain@messengerpostmedia.com

CANANDAIGUA — The Ontario County Board of Supervisors has adopted the county’s 2014 budget, which includes an amendment to add funding for a program offered to the county’s school districts that educates students on drug abuse.

Following a public hearing Thursday on the tentative 2014 budget — in which no one from the public spoke — Geneva City Supervisor Donald Ninestine offered an amendment to the budget to add $2,500 for the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program.

Ontario County Sheriff Philip Povero said the program has been in place in Ontario County for over 20 years. Officers with the sheriff’s office provide the programs in seven of the counties school districts, excluding the Geneva and Canandaigua districts. Povero said the program is primarily offered to fifth graders, and that in addition to education on drug abuse, it also educates students on such issues as cyber-safety and anti-bullying.

“The schools all support the D.A.R.E. program and believe it has a positive impact on the overall development of young people into healthy adults,” he said.

Povero said the county Public Safety Committee had approved continuing the program next year, but that the Financial Management Committee had chosen to abolish the program’s budget in the county’s 2014 spending plan.

If the program did not receive funding, Povero said, the sheriff’s office would not have offered it in the spring.

Following the offering of the amendment, discussion ensued in which supervisors spoke both in favor of and against it.

“I’m a firm believer in the D.A.R.E. program,” said Phelps Supervisor Norman Teed, who is also on the Public Safety Committee. “We’ve got to get to kids when they’re small.”

Dodie Huber, East Bloomfield supervisor and chair of the Financial Management Committee, argued that there isn’t evidence that the program is successful.

“If schools want the D.A.R.E. program, let them pay for it,” she added.

County Director of Finance Catherine Bentzoni said the $2,500 would go toward materials for the program. She said that the cost of officer salaries and fringe benefits for running the D.A.R.E. program was not broken out in this year’s budget, but estimated that it is about $40,000. She said those costs will be separated out in the future.

Following discussion, the amendment passed by a weighted vote of 2,578 in favor and 1,918 against. The resolution to adopt the amended budget was subsequently approved by the board.

Bentzoni said that with the amendment, the total expenses in the 2014 budget and the tax levy will both go up $2,500.

Prior to the amendment, the total tentative budget was $218,775,056, up 1.78 percent from $214,952,986 in 2013. The budget included a tentative tax levy of $51,934,777 — a 1.83 percent rise from 2013 — and a tax rate of $6.33 per $1,000 assessed value, up 4 cents from 2013.

“I’m very proud of all the effort that has gone into this process,” said Huber. “Our policies and efforts to deliver needed services to the highest number of people at the lowest possible cost illustrates our commitment to all our residents, regardless of the pressures under which we operate.” Also at Thursday’s meeting, the Board of Supervisors approved numerous resolutions, including:

— Two resolutions regarding the sale of the county’s nursing home.

The first resolution declares the board as lead agency for the environmental review of the subdivision of an approximately 7-acre parcel of land, which includes the Ontario County Health Facility, from a 104-acre parcel on the south side of County Road 46, as well as of the establishment of a county exemption from local zoning and subdivision requirements and the subsequent sale of the facility. The resolution also makes a negative declaration of significance for these actions, stating that they will not result in any significant adverse environmental impacts.

The second resolution declares the subdivision exempt from local zoning requirements. According to the resolution, the county is seeking immunity from the town of Hopewell’s regulations for subdivisions.

— A resolution to authorize County Administrator John Garvey to execute a contract with the Council on Alcoholism and Other Chemical Dependencies of the Finger Lakes, Inc. to provide substance abuse prevention services in the county’s school districts. The budgeted amount for the prevention services in 2014 is not to exceed $97,296 for the county and $118,746 in state funding, said Diane Johnston, county director of community services. There would be no cost to the school districts. Johnston said that county officials will now need to meet with school district representatives to determine their interest in the services.

— A resolution to authorize a contract with SCS Engineers, an environmental engineering and construction firm based in Rockland County, for consultant services related to odor control at the Ontario County landfill. According to the terms of the proposed contract, landfill manager Casella Waste Systems Inc. will pay $10,000 toward the cost of the work that is not to exceed $13,000. The work will include review of landfill drawings, landfill gas data, landfill gas modeling, field investigation and an analysis and report with recommendations for improvements.